The Breath of Life
by Malon A. Lupin
Summary: Well, something different than my others (and there aren't many of those...) Please read and review!


*~The Breath of Life~*

By Malon A. Lupin

Farore opened her glass-green eyes toward the sun.The shimmering orb shone down upon her small figure with a brand-new warmth.The land around her, touching her wings, illuminated by the sun, was yet barren and unfulfilled.It was warm and inviting, yet only rock and dry earth.She shivered slightly at the simple beauty of the new earth around her, and where her golden body and hair had moved, tiny glimmering dust fell to the ground.Where it landed, she watched as new life began.

The small patches of ground became moist and from them spurted green buds, stalks, and glistening blades of young grass.She lifted a wing, and up from the ground sprang several flowers of blue and gold, over a new bed of grass.She began to hover slowly over the ground, enjoying the new life issuing out of the barren earth.Farore smiled and spread her shimmering wings as she took the sky, leaving a trail of new green land behind her.Flowers of all kinds, shrubs, grasses, motley plants and mosses grew below.She soared high above the surrounding mountains and hills, spreading new life everywhere.

She gazed down at her creations, feeling the soaring of her own heart at the sight of the life she had given this new world.It would be a beautiful, heavenly place.Farore swept over the entire landscape, finally arriving at one last hill.When this hill had life, all would be complete.She would make this hill the grandest of all, with trees twice as grand as any other, flowers with petals brighter still, the ground would be richer here than anywhere else.

Farore approached this hill, her glimmering dust of life falling on the ground below.She was surprised not to hear the rush of new life.She turned and was shocked to see that nothing had grown on this hill that was to be the most beautiful.Farore swept over it once more, and once more again, but no life arose.She saw not the slightest sign of green.All around this hill, as far as she could see, there was nothing to see but lush green forests and pastures.Farore flew down to examine the hill more closely, to try and see why nothing would grow.

As she drew closer to the ground, she could see that this was not a hill.No--it was an old crater.She swooped down and headed into the mouth of this crater.There was something like an old rock at the bottom, and when Farore reached it, she was surprised to see that the edge of the crater blocked all sunlight, making the rock, already immensely larger than Farore herself, look like an evil demon of the underworld.She folded her shimmering green wings and took three deliberate steps up to the rock so that her face was almost against it.Squinting her eyes and cocking her head to one side, she looked at the rock closely, as if trying to recognize something or someone.She reached out with one delicate finger to touch the rock.

Without warning, the rock jolted and seemed to come to life.Two burning red eyes, each larger than the goddess, bore down upon her with maniacal, fiery intensity.Farore stared into them in horror for a moment, until she felt her own eyes begin to burn, then she lit upon her wings and started getting out of the crater.Behind her she heard the sounds of rock breaking and air catching aflame.She looked over her shoulder and cried out in terror when she saw it.It was a huge, flying demon that seemed to be made out of fire itself.It was enormous with black wings and it was, enticing lava to flow out of the crater, which was now half its size.

The sky became pitch black with smoke as the lava began to flow out of the crater, now a volcano.The fiery bird watched as the lava gained momentum and began to engulf the entire land.Farore's trees, grasses, plants...all that were not being engulfed by the liquid-hot lava were catching aflame.The fire spread quickly, singeing Farore's wings.The heat and fire in the sky forced her to stay on ground and she had to run to escape the lava and fire.She grew tired, and was about to be overtaken by the flames when she found a tree that was no longer burning and leapt to the top.

She could not believe what she now saw before her.The entire land was aflame.Dark, black, red, orange, all the colors of death and destruction met her eyes.Where there had been forests, there were clouds of acrid smoke.Where there had once been meadows, there were now volcanoes erupting with fire and death.Farore's entire new world had been destroyed.

Above it all was the gigantic demon of fire, casting its blazing eyes over the land.It lifted its giant wings and let out a massive roar that would have deafened any creature who could have survived.It cast its eyes around the vast scope of burning land, and it caught a glimpse of movement—a tiny, trembling figure clinging to the top of a tree.The demon-bird flew toward the tree, towering above it and the small figure of Farore.It spread its wings and opened its beak, flames issuing out from its mouth, and for one brief moment Farore looked into its eyes.Then its wings spread wide, and the tree was engulfed and the earth went dark.

Who can tell for how long a destroyed world remains in frigid, lifeless darkness?For a time, having no sense of how long, the land existed thus—no life on its face, yet still _there_.After a time, a faint gray light began to appear on the horizon.It slowly spread until the whole of the land was lit dimly with a smoky, gray light—a light the color of ashes.As far as the horizons stretched there was nothing but flat, charred land.Bits of burned remains floated through the air.

All at once, two shining orbs appeared in the sky.As they drew closer, they became figures of beautiful women, glowing with a celestial radiance.These were two of the deities; they were Din and Nayru, the goddesses who had helped to create the land.Din had sparkling robes and skin of ruby-red, representing the fertile earth she had given the land.Nayru, shimmering in her vestments of deep blue, had created the blue sky, and would be the one to establish law and order to the land.There was an infinite sadness in each of their hearts as they looked over the land, for they had created it—along with their third, Farore.They knew they must find her, for they alone were powerless to restore the land.

For a long time they searched for her, scouring the desolate land and sky.Farore seemed nowhere to be found.After hours upon hours of fruitless searching, Din and Nayru came upon the remains of what had once been a tall, majestic oak tree.They looked under it, over it, inside of it, finding nothing but ashes and charred wood.This was the last place Farore could possibly be, and there was nothing.No glint of green, no sound.With a heavy heart, Din started to fly away from the fallen tree.She glanced over her shoulder as she flew, and saw that Nayru was bent underneath the tree.Din went back to her, wondering what Nayru could be trying to do.Din could not believe her eyes when she saw.

A tiny, delicate figure that looked to be made out of ashes was fluttering before them.As the wind blew, flakes of dust seemed to peel off from its body.The figure was shivering and trembling.It turned its face towards the goddesses.It was Farore.Her body was completely pale, all the green shimmer gone.Her arms were wrapped tightly around herself for warmth, and she looked bleakly up at her two faithful partners, her lips trembling.

Din held out her hand.Farore was able to grasp it, and Din shuddered at the coldness of her hands.Nayru took Farore's other arm and together she and Din supported her.Together, with Farore between them, they began to fly over the land.They went higher and higher, viewing the desolation a second time.Farore looked around at all of this.This had been her creation, her pride, her very existence.How she had loved it and cherished it…how she had looked forward to taking care of it forever, always keeping it beautiful…it had been too young to die.Without realizing it, Farore let three small tears drop from the corner of her eye. 

What happened next was the most amazing miracle that the land was ever to encounter.Where the tears had fallen, small shoots of plants began to grow.They grew and grew, creating one small patch of life inside the miles and miles of dead earth.Din and Nayru looked down and spotted the green.Farore looked down and saw the small plants, and immediately felt a renewed surge of energy flow through her.Her wings and arms gained strength again.She let go of the two goddesses and flew down to the plants that had been created with her tears.

The green suddenly flowed back into her skin and clothes when she touched the plants.The glimmer came back to her eyes, the shine came back to her hair, and the shimmering dust of life shook from its locks once more. Plants grew back everywhere. Grass spread across the ground, bushes, flower beds and brush grew where they had once before...only this time they seemed more bright, more vibrant, more life-filled than ever before.Farore swept her giant, loving wings across the land once more, spreading life to the farthest reaches.In a burst of shimmering dust she swooped up and down through the new forests and meadows, reveling in the unbridled joy of new life.

Trees shot up as rockets, clusters of green bursting from newly-grown branches.Pines, firs, great-leaved trees, all were part of Farore's forest.In a burst of blossoms, a cherry-tree emerged with Farore in the middle of it.She spread her wings and let the petals catch the wind.Then Farore flew to the once-fiery crater, which was now silent as the land had once been.She extended her wings to their largest span, and they were now lager than the crater itself.And as the shimmering dust fell, new sprigs of life took root there at last.Plants began to grow, covering the gray-black soot.

Din and Nayru flew alongside Farore, their hearts rejoicing as the land was now renewed with life.They looked down at the new forms of life covering the land—and not only plants.As they looked, they could make out butterflies, deer, rabbits, and birds running through the new safety of the woods and pastures.This is what the land would always be like, with their help.It would always stay beautiful as long as it had the breath of life.


End file.
